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 Contact Us To provide feedback on the Community Policing Dispatch, e-mail the editorial board at CPDispatch@usdoj.gov. To obtain details on COPS Office programs, publications, and resources, contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov   **U.S. Department of Justice** 
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 **Director's Corner: Crime Prevention** October 2019 | Volume 12 | Issue 9
  October is crime prevention month: four weeks in which our  nation pays special attention to the public safety needs of our communities. But  at the COPS Office, every week,—indeed every working day—is dedicated to  preventing crime, and last month marked the 25th year we’ve been  dedicated to this effort. Founded in 1994 to advance the practice of community  policing by our nation’s state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies,  our focus is on preventing crime by proactively addressing the conditions that give  rise to it through problem-solving techniques, partnerships with other  organizations, and, most importantly, collaboration with the communities each  agency serves. By earning the community’s trust and encouraging its  members to become stakeholders in their own safety, law enforcement can better understand  and address their needs and the factors that contribute to crime. With the  people’s support, officers can also respond more effectively when problems  arise. Collaboration is another important aspect of our  philosophy, and we promote law enforcement partnerships and collaborative  efforts with other agencies, as well as with local, state, and federal entities,  through a wide variety of programs, including training to help community leaders  work cooperatively with their local police department or sheriff’s office. But public safety is not our only concern. The COPS Office  has long been active in promoting the safety and wellness of our law enforcement  personnel—our nation’s police officers and sheriff’s deputies who work  valiantly to serve their communities. Our efforts take the form of supporting  research and innovation with grant funding, providing technical assistance and  training, holding forums to gain new insights, and developing a wide array of publications  and other resources to support law enforcement agencies. Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14  billion to add community policing officers to the nation’s streets, deploy cutting-edge  crime-fighting technologies, develop innovative policing strategies, and  provide training and technical assistance to agencies of all sizes. This  includes: training for approximately 700,000 people;
          adding 130,000 additional officers to our streets;
          providing more than 2,000 active grants;
          developing more than 600 topic-specific publications,  white papers, training curricula, and other resources. And there has been progress in many areas. According to  the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics’  National Crime Victimization Survey, there has been a substantial decline in  the violent crime rate since the 1990s. The FBI data shows a 49% percent decrease,  and the BJS statistics show a 74 percent decrease, both through 2017, the most  recent full year of data.1 This decrease is attributed by many experts to the  increase in the number of police officers on the streets, a change supported by  the COPS Office, as well as the application of community policing principles  and greater emphasis on research and data-backed strategies. For data on the  results of our crime prevention efforts, please see The  Effects of COPS Office Funding on Sworn Force Levels, Crime, and Arrests:  Evidence from Regression Discontinuity Design. But  though the crime rate has been going in the right direction, there is still far  too much crime and fear of crime in many of our communities. And as long as  there is any crime, we will continue to focus on improving the safety of our  nation and our law enforcement officers—every month. – Director  Keith References:
		   1.https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/03/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ Tweet
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 The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office.   The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office.
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